Roller balancing devices of various types and kinds have been known in the art. Typically, such devices include a roller serving as a fulcrum, and a foot engageable balance board resting on top of the roller. However, all such prior known roller board devices, usually employed for amusement and/or exercise, are limited in their use and movement. They are primarily used for rolling or balancing, and their movement is limited to sideways rolling of the board relative to the roller, and/or a teeter-totter rocking motion. Therefore, these devices are somewhat limited in their use by virtue of their design.
Additionally, prior known roller balancing devices have been limited as to where they can be used safely. In this regard, when the rollers are used on a smooth surface, such as a tile floor, uncontrollable rolling can occur. Thus, the conventional devices are usually only used where frictional surfaces, such as carpeted surfaces, are available.
Therefore, it would be highly desirable to have a kit and balancing device therefor, which may be used in many more locations and which would allow much more freedom of movement.
A roller board device relating to a game of balance has been described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,764,411. The described device includes a rectangular flat foot engageable board balanced on, and supported by, a cylindrical roller, having a central groove therein. A guide rail fits in the groove to limit the motion of the board relative to the roller, to either a side-to-side reciprocation, or to a teeter-totter movement. The longitudinal travel is limited to the movement between a pair of strips forming a pair of end stops, which extend transversely to the underside of the board along its entire transverse side length.
This device has several disadvantages, and in some instances, it may be dangerous to the user. Not only is the movement limited to longitudinal movement, but the person operating such a board may sustain injuries by being thrown accidentally from the board when, during fast movement, the person abruptly hits the ground with the end stops. Thus, the speed with which this device is used is limited to slow, deliberate longitudinal rolling, to and fro. It is not able to be used in a vigorous, and yet creative manner.
Moreover, the patented board has a rectangular shape with sharp corners which can damage nearby objects, or can injure other people standing nearby. The end stops may strike the ground inadvertently, and once the end stop touches the ground, the user can be dislodged abruptly from the board, and thus the user can sustain injuries. Such board device is not designed for fast, free-style intense movement, and thus any such movement should be avoided with such a device.
It would, therefore, be desirable to have a device which would be more versatile to use and yet safe for fast paced, free-style movement, and thus lend itself to free style, imaginative feats.
A toy device comprising an exercising teeter board for longitudinal rotation on a rolling base is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,995,852. The base is provided with a U-shaped circumferential groove receiving the undersurface of the teeter board. Two braking skids at the end of the U-shaped base apparently provide the safety features necessary to prevent a runaway of the roller base. This device is generally designed to be used by one or more persons in a sitting or standing position for rocking or rolling.
While perhaps safer than other conventional devices, this teeter board offers only limited longitudinal movement, preferably for safety reasons, and only gentle rocking and rolling motions are possible. Any vigorous use, in particular by two people, could lead to dislodging a person from the board or causing, if used in a sitting position, an injury to a foot caught under the board.
In any event, the patented teeter board does not enable any convenient, free movement of the board, other than longitudinal movement.
Along the same line, other prior known rollable balancing boards and devices disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,505,477; 3,895,794 and 4,601,469, are limited in their movements and thus are not suitable for a more unlimited, free-style use.
A balancing fulcrum roller disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,895,794 also has limited movability, because its fulcrum is confined rollably within a cavity disposed at the underside of a balancing board. The size of the cavity determines the range of the movement of the board relative to the roller. Moreover, the support for the feet is not flat, and therefore, the person using this device must stand in an awkward and unsafe position for the execution of more adept maneuvers.
Similarly, a balancing board device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,505,477 has limited movability determined by the length of a pair of tracks on the underside of the board, along which a pair of wheels roll forwardly or backwardly. This patented device is presumably intended to be an improvement over other balancing boards, by providing a means for control of the lateral movement of the board. Thus, such a board device would not at all be suitable for a wide variety of feats and a free style operation.
A balance board comprising roller-supported foot platform with a roller retained in the frame under the platform is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,601,469. A retaining pin or axle maintains the roller and foot platform in assembled relation, so that there is little or no possibility of relative movement between the roller and the board. The disadvantage associated with the last mentioned device is also its extreme lack of free, unrestrained movement.
A balancing exerciser platform with shock absorber means, useful as an exercise and amusement device, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,416,792. The device includes a stationary base unit, which has a balancing board pivotally fixed on the upper position thereof. Therefore, the device can only be used to rock back and forth, and thus it does not allow any other relative movement of any kind between the board and its base. Moreover, the device is stationary and not rollable, due to its design, and enables only a rather limited use.
An exercising device of the balancing type, capable of multiple modes of operation, would be highly desirable to provide amusement, as well as a good form of exercise. Such exercise would help promote agility and coordination.
A modified skate board permitting a freer movement by allowing forward, stopping, steering and maneuvering by the flexing of the ankle, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,630,540. The patented skate board, used primarily for exercise, is designed to be ridden with one foot resting on it; and the other foot providing the motion by pushing off the ground. The board is mounted on a centrally located pair of rollers movable along a rail, and has a pair of rollers positioned at each end of the board. In this manner, the skate board can be used in a teeter-totter manner, but can be ridden in two positions only--with either the front or rear smaller wheels engaging the ground. Thus, such a device does not enable a wide variety of uses.
Hence, it would be desirable to have a balancing board device which would allow a wide variety of manipulations so that many different feats may be performed. Also, the device should be useable conveniently in many different locations.